Armaments: Tempting Target for Terrorists

Tempting Target for Terrorists

After three American soldiers were killed when the rocket motor of a Pershing II missile caught fire in Germany last January, the Army launched an investigation into the cause. The review, however, disclosed a different kind of peril: the ill-concealed missiles were subject to terrorist attacks. With this in mind, the Army last month sent a letter to Congress stating that the highly accurate weapons were "extremely vulnerable," and requested $1.8 million to improve the security of the approximately 50 nuclear missiles that / the U.S. has already deployed in Germany.